


Love in Cold Blood

by Kittens



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Protectiveness, villains in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29392848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittens/pseuds/Kittens
Summary: Hux survives an explosion that he shouldn't have and he knows Ren is the reason why. What Hux can't figure out is why Ren would save him? They hate each other, don't they?
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60
Collections: Year of Kylux





	Love in Cold Blood

A diplomatic meeting on a fairly hostile world should have been expected to go wrong. Hux just didn’t anticipate how wrong things would go or to what lengths someone would go to in an attempt to kill him.

Who was trying to kill him was an unknown and that question would have to wait until later. Hux’s first priority was surviving. And then, he might just destroy every lifeform on the surface of the planet instead of finding those responsible.

His ears were still ringing from the explosion, but the smoke was clearing enough that he could see a few feet in front of him. Pieces of the building were littered all around him and judging by the light coming through the smoke, Hux guessed that the building no longer existed. It must have been a large bomb. 

How had Hux survived? And not only had he survived, but he was barely hurt. The answer to how he survived was fairly obvious — Ren. But where was Ren? He’d been standing close by before the bomb went off. He should still be there.

Calling for him was pointless, as he knew Ren probably wouldn’t be able to hear either. As more smoke cleared, Hux was able to see a little further and soon saw a dark shape on the ground. Keeping low to the ground, he made his way over and found Ren on the ground, hopefully unconscious.

Hux quickly checked to make sure he was alive. He was, but he was clearly injured, with torn clothing and blood on his exposed skin. There was no active bleeding, so Hux decided that was at least a good sign. But he’d never seen Ren so still. Hux didn’t like it.

He placed a hand on the side of Ren’s face and his eyes briefly fluttered open before he fell back into unconsciousness. His hearing was starting to return, and Hux heard what sounded like distant blaster shots, although they were likely closer than he thought. He pulled his blaster from its holster and prepared to defend himself and Ren until the First Order could get to them.

There was no need to call for backup — his people already knew he was alive thanks to a tracker he had on him that monitored his vitals. Someone would come for them shortly, but it was just a matter of whether or not their enemies found them first.

When Hux saw a group of stormtroopers coming through the smoke, he was relieved, although he kept his blaster ready as he couldn’t be certain it wasn’t stolen armor. But he saw the troopers communicating with hand signals that would only be known to those within the First Order. 

“Ren needs medical attention!” Hux barked. 

Soon, troopers were at their side. Some were around Ren while others were near Hux. It took him a moment to realize that they were trying to talk to him, but with the sounds of the battle and his ears still ringing from the explosion, he couldn’t understand them.

“Get Ren back to the ship!” he ordered. He stood and one of the troopers tried to help balance him, but Hux pushed him back. “I’m fine. Ren’s the one who needs help.”

It felt like forever before a medical team arrived and checked Ren out. He was loaded onto a stretcher and Hux started to follow as he was carried away. One of the medics tried to stop him, but Hux just pointed to his ear and shook his head, hoping that would get the point across. Even if it didn’t, Hux wasn’t going to try to explain better and continued to follow Ren.

A shuttle was waiting for them and Hux took a seat near Ren, wanting to keep an eye on him. He only had basic medical training and knew that the actual medics were actually qualified to take care of him but Hux needed to be close.

Someone put a datapad in front of him and Hux looked up to see one of the medics before taking the datapad. On it were instructions that he needed to submit to a medical exam to clear him of any injuries.

“I’m uninjured,” Hux said, shaking his head. “What’s Ren’s status?”

The medic looked at their own datapad and were typing something. Soon, Hux had Ren’s preliminary medical report in front of him and he quickly looked it over. The two biggest concerns were head trauma and several suspected broken bones. In addition, there were several cuts and other minor injuries.

Hux frowned as he read the report. How had Ren ended up with so severe of injuries? Hux had been standing next to him, so it didn’t make sense that he was completely unharmed. He tried to remember the moments before the explosion.

Ren had put a hand on Hux’s shoulder, claiming something was wrong. Hux had been about to tell him to stop being ridiculous but he hadn’t had a chance to speak. The explosion had sent him flying away from Ren. Except in his memory, he was flying through the air before he heard the bomb went off. He knew his memory must be wrong, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t.

That would mean that something else had sent him flying and there was only one thing that Hux could think of that could do that — Ren. Had Ren used his abilities to push him away from the worst of the explosion? Had Ren protected him? And what made it even more shocking was that Ren seemed to have protected Hux at his own expense. It just didn’t seem like something he would do.

Yet Ren was the one injured and Hux was perfectly fine.

Hux lightly touched Ren’s cheek with the back of his hand. If Ren had saved him, it was possible that Ren had saved his life. Given how much they fought, that was a surprise. Hux would have thought Ren would have been happy to get rid of him. Had their positions been reversed, Hux didn’t know if he would have saved Ren, especially if it meant he’d be harmed by doing so.

“Sir,” a medic said, and Hux turned to look at her before he realized his hearing was almost back to normal. “I know you’ve reported no injuries, but we’ll still need to clear you once we get back to the ship.”

“Yes, of course,” Hux said. There was a reason the First Order had protocols, and Hux knew he had to lead by example. It wouldn’t do if he remained on duty if there was not a record showing that he was fit after what had happened.

Once back on board, Hux did insist on walking himself to medbay. The medics didn’t give him too much trouble about that and Hux followed behind Ren. As soon as they arrived, Ren was sent one way while a doctor came to take Hux to another room, where he was given fresh clothes to change into. His uniform would be sent to the forensics unit, which meant Hux would have to deal with wearing casual clothing.

The exam was thankfully short — he was scanned for any internal issues and asked about any effects he was feeling. Besides hearing loss, which was already getting better, there was nothing to report. Which was why Hux was surprised when the doctor ordered him off duty for five days.

“I’m perfectly capable of resuming my normal duties,” Hux said. “As you have seen, I am completely uninjured.”

“Physically, yes,” the doctor agreed. “However, you did just have a near-death experience and it is standard protocol to keep personnel off-duty to ensure their mental well-being after such a thing.”

“Near death? I’m fine.”

“You shouldn’t be. You and Commander Ren were the only survivors of that explosion. It should have killed both of you.”

“That may be, but I can not be off duty for five days because I didn’t die.”

“Three days, then, with two days of light duty. We’ll do another exam before you can go back to usual.”

“Fine,” Hux agreed. “Is that all?”

“Yes. I’ll be sending you a questionnaire that I’d like you to fill out every day until you return. It will make your follow-up appointment much quicker.”

“Yes, I’ll be sure to do that. Where’s Ren?”

“He’s being treated for his injuries.”

“Can I see him?”

“You should return to your quarters to rest,” the doctor suggested.

“I’ll have nothing to do besides rest for three days,” Hux said. “I might as well make sure this ship’s co-commander is healing well.”

“If that’s what you want I don’t suppose I can stop you.”

Hux found Ren a few rooms over and saw that he was still asleep. His clothes had been removed and his left leg was in a cast, and there were bandages across what seemed like most of his body. At least the fact that he wasn’t in bacta meant that none of his injuries were life threatening. Their supplies were too low to use on anything less than that, which meant Ren would have to heal the slow way.

“What’s his status?” Hux asked one of the two droids currently attending him.

“Commander Ren is currently sedated to keep him calm,” the droid said. “He may need to remain sedated until he starts to heal, as he is prone to reinjury. His full medical report has been sent to your datapad.”

“Does he currently need treatment besides sedation?” Hux asked.

“He does not,” the droid said.

“Return him to his quarters and allow him to wake up,” Hux ordered. “I’ll ensure he stays calm and doesn’t aggravate his injuries.”

The droid did not answer immediately and Hux could see that it was considering arguing, likely processing whether or not that was an argument it should have. It decided on the right option.

“Very well. We will move him immediately.”

Within minutes, a team of droids had Ren ready to move. Hux followed them to Ren’s quarters and watched as the droids put him in his own bed and placed something on the table next to the bed.

“We are leaving him some painkillers,” one of the droids said. “Please administer them if he needs them.”

Then the droids were gone and Hux was alone with Ren. Hux realized it was the first time he’d really been in Ren’s quarters. He’d stood right inside the door to speak to him before, but he’d never had a chance to look around. It was cleaner than he expected. 

Ren seemed like the type who would leave things lying around or at the very least, dirt everywhere. He’d seen the mess the Knights of Ren left around the ship and thought that Ren would be the same. How did he leave such a mess around the rest of the ship but not in his own quarters?

As much as he wondered about that, there were more important things he wanted to know. Like why Ren had saved him? Hux still couldn’t understand why he had done that but he couldn’t come up with any other explanation as to how he’d managed to survive that explosion with no injuries.

With nothing else to do, Hux decided to check the reports from the attack. There wasn’t likely to be much, but maybe there would be some other explanation as to how he survived. 

He read the casualty report and saw that he and Ren were the only known survivors from the area of the explosion. The report on the explosive itself was not complete, but from the initial investigation, it was indeed a powerful explosion. One that really should not have been survivable.

There was footage recorded of the incident and Hux watched it but couldn’t believe he’d been in that. Even if he’d been on the edge — which he could tell he hadn’t been — he should have at least had some very severe injuries. That meant that Ren had indeed been responsible for his survival. 

Now Hux wanted to know why but he wouldn’t get an answer until Ren woke up.

Knowing it might be a while, Hux made himself comfortable on Ren’s couch. He might be off duty, but that didn’t mean there weren’t reports for him to read. He needed to stay caught up so he was prepared when he did return to duty.

At some point, he must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew was that Ren was stirring in bed. Hux jumped to his feet and was at Ren’s side, putting a hand on his shoulder and trying to keep him from trying to sit up.

“Hold still!” Hux ordered. To his surprise, Ren stopped moving and laid still in bed. “Do you need painkillers?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Taking care of you,” Hux replied. “Now do you need painkillers or not?”

“No,” Ren said, trying to sit up once again. “I need to get up.”

“You do not,” Hux said. “You have a broken leg and other injuries. You are to rest until cleared for duty and if you do not allow me to take care of you, then you can go back to medical and be sedated.”

“Why are _you_ here?”

“Because you’re a difficult patient and the medical staff doesn’t want to deal with you,” Hux said. “So the choices were that I make sure you don’t further injure yourself or you remain sedated until you’ve healed enough.”

Ren fell silent, leaving Hux to try to figure out how to bring up the subject of what Ren did just before the explosion. He could simply never mention it, but he had to know why. 

“Why didn’t you have me sedated?” Ren asked before Hux could figure out what to say. “Thought you’d like that.”

“I needed to speak to you,” Hux said. “Did you know the explosion was going to happen?”

“You think I did that?” Ren sat up and Hux was quick to push him back down to the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed so he could better hold him down.

“No,” he said. “Even you’re not that stupid. However, there are some things that don’t seem right about the situation, which makes me think that you knew it was about to happen. Is that something you can do? Tell when there’s impending danger?”

“Yes,” Ren said. “I sensed it before it happened.”

That answered one question, but not the one that Hux really wanted to know the answer to. He probably didn’t need Ren to confirm that he’d been responsible for saving him, but Hux found himself asking anyway.

“And you protected us?”

“I tried,” Ren said, turning his head away. 

“You succeeded,” Hux said, moving a hand to Ren’s face. “We’re alive and we shouldn’t be.”

Ren turned his head, pressing more into Hux’s touch and that’s when Hux realized what he was doing. He pulled his hand away, but Ren grabbed him by the wrist and held his hand in place. Hux didn’t try to stop him. 

“Ren,” he said, finally going to ask what he really wanted to know. “You saved me, didn’t you? You made sure I wasn’t hurt.”

Ren nodded. That was not what Hux really wanted to ask. He knew the reason he hadn’t asked already was that he was afraid of what Ren might say. But Ren was still holding on to his wrist, keeping his hand on his face. Hux needed to know for certain why Ren had saved him. 

“Why?” he asked.

“I didn’t want you to get hurt,” Ren said quietly.

“But you hate me,” Hux said even though that clearly wasn’t true. Ren having saved him was evidence enough of that, but the way he kept his cheek pressed against Hux’s hand made it even clearer. Whatever Ren felt towards him, it wasn’t hate.

Ren started to get up again, and when Hux tried to keep him down, he easily pushed him away. Hux couldn’t physically keep Ren in bed, but he could at least support him and keep him from falling down when he tried to stand up.

“You have a broken leg,” Hux said. “You need to rest.”

“I need to go to the refresher.”

“I’ll help you,” Hux said with a sigh. He probably should have expected he’d need to help Ren with such things. He got Ren balanced, putting one of Ren’s arms over his shoulder and then walked into the refresher with him. At least it was a short trip.

He stood back once Ren was standing by the toilet, thinking he’d at least manage to stand on his own. If he could save them from an explosion, he would certainly be able to hold himself up to piss. He probably hadn’t even needed Hux’s help in the first place, but he hadn’t refused. 

There wasn’t much time to think about what that might mean by the time Ren had finished and washed his hands. Then Hux was back at Ren’s side and helped him back to bed. Hux wasn’t sure what to do next. There was nothing he could do to help Ren heal and Ren didn’t even really need him.

Hux started to leave, but Ren grabbed his arm. He sat down on the edge of the bed, but Ren was still pulling on his arm.

“Stay with me,” Ren said.

“You want me to sleep with you?” Hux asked.

“Please,” Ren said. 

Hux couldn’t resist the way he said that and laid down next to him. He looked into Ren’s eyes and felt his stomach flutter. He’d imagined getting in bed with Ren before, but not like this. He stroked the side of Ren’s face and he closed his eyes.

He ran a hand through Ren’s hair and then moved over his shoulder, up his neck and then he traced along his jaw. Hux paused when he reached his chin then moved his fingers up to his lips. They were soft, and touching them with his fingers wasn’t enough.

Ren seemed to enjoy being touched so Hux hoped he wouldn’t mind taking things a step further. He lightly pressed his lips to Ren’s and Ren put an arm around him, pulling him close as he kissed Hux back.

“Ren,” Hux said, pulling away. “You’re injured. We need to be careful.”

“I’ll heal,” Ren said as he pulled Hux into another kiss. Hux was tempted to keep kissing him, but he also had a duty to not injure him. He’d promised the medical staff he’d keep Ren from aggravating his injuries.

“You will,” Hux agreed, “because we will not be engaging in any strenuous activities until you’ve been cleared.”

“But -”

“It’ll give us more time to work out just what this is between us,” Hux said.

“What’s to work out?” Ren asked.

“A few hours ago, I thought you hated me,” Hux said. “Then you saved me and now we’re in bed together, so I’d say there’s quite a bit to discuss.”

“Not really,” Ren said. “I love you. That’s all there is to it.”

Hux thought he must have heard him wrong because that didn’t make sense. There was no way Ren could feel that way about him. But everything since the explosion seemed to show that it was indeed the case. Or if not love, Ren at least felt something for him.

Hux leaned forward again to kiss him. They couldn’t do much more, but Hux had already decided he liked kissing Ren. He’d be doing quite a lot of that until Ren healed.

***

Two weeks after the attack, Ren had mostly healed from his injuries. He was not cleared for full duty, but he could walk around for short periods of time. As it turned out, Hux had been very effective at keeping him in bed so he got plenty of rest.

Hux had ended up taking the entire five days off duty, spending each day with Ren. They hadn’t separated at all. Hux helped Ren take care of himself with his broken leg. Not that he needed the help, but Ren always seemed to wait for it.

While Ren recovered and Hux took care of him, their forces had found those responsible for the explosion. They’d been rounded up and were currently being held on the planet, waiting for Ren’s recovery. 

With his cast finally off, Hux walked with Ren to the hangar where their shuttle awaited. They would be going back to the planet to make an example of those who tried to betray the Order. And if that wasn’t enough to bring the entire planet in line, then they would take things a step further.

When they arrived at the site of the explosion, everything was set up for the event. The shuttle landed on a platform that had been built. It was close so Ren wouldn’t have to walk far. Although he was much better, he wasn’t supposed to walk much. 

Stormtroopers had kept the area secure so there were no concerns about another attack, although Hux wasn’t worried because Ren would be at his side the entire time.

Hux made a quick speech and ended it by kissing Ren. Then, Ren sat down on a large throne-like chair and Hux sat in his lap. 

Each person who had any part in the attack — along with any of their close friends and family — was led out. Hux waited until they were all gathered, before motioning to one of the stormtroopers to execute the first prisoner. 

Hux watched the first several executions, pleased by the cries of despair coming from the others. But as much as he enjoyed watching the executions, he also wanted to kiss Ren. He tilted his head back and found Ren’s lips, kissing him as yet another prisoner was killed.

“I almost feel like we should be thanking them,” Hux said while Ren kissed his neck. “If it weren’t for them, I never would have known how you felt.”

“I thought this was your way of thanking them,” Ren said against his neck. “Giving them a quick death. We could have made it so much worse.”

“That’s true,” Hux said, smiling. He really was being quite generous to the people who had tried to kill him. He’d even ensured that any of their younger children were taken into the stormtrooper program, which was more than they deserved. But they had also brought him and Ren together and Hux would always be grateful for that.

What they’d given him was the greatest gift of all. Hux never thought he had any need for things such as love, but Ren had quickly shown him how wrong he was. And it was all the more perfect that the man he loved also wanted to rid the galaxy of scum. Hux had never considered himself to be capable of love, but as he kissed Ren while listening to the screams of their enemies, he knew that he truly did love Ren.


End file.
